Man in the Sand is a 1999 documentary that functions as both a biography of American folk singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie and a chronicle of the creation of the Billy Bragg & Wilco Mermaid Avenue albums (Vol.
III (2012)), which feature songs consisting of previously-unheard Woody Guthrie lyrics set to newly-created music.
[1][2] In 1995, Nora Guthrie asked English singer-songwriter Billy Bragg to create music to accompany lyrics written by her father, Woody Guthrie, decades earlier, and record an album.
Throughout the film, Nora narrates the story of her father's life, while Bragg is seen traveling to various locations relevant to Woody Guthrie's life, such as Okemah, Oklahoma (his hometown), Pampa, Texas (where he met his first wife), and New York City (where he made his home after leaving California).
Much time is also spent at the recording sessions with Bragg and Wilco in Chicago (December 1997) and Dublin (January 1998), and with Bragg and Natalie Merchant in Boston (March 1998), that produced most of the tracks for all three albums.